Araminta had just turned 19, the age at which children were required to leave their parent's house and provide for themselves. Her grandmother had drilled her cooking skills and techniques into her grandchildren to make sure they would not struggle on their own when it came to food. Basically, she wanted them to accomplish what she never could: leaving a mark in the history of cooking. Before Araminta left to look for a place to stay, her grandmother spoke.
"Minty, be careful out in this current world, darling"
"Of course, don't worry so much! I got trained by you" replied the young woman, "Goodbye grandma"
Minty's grandmother was the last person she had to bid farewells to. Her parents and siblings lived in another house and the granny lived alone after her husband had passed away of unknown reasons.
The first place on Araminta's list was a bakery. Thanks to the new advanced ways of farming and cultivating wheat, bread making had become one of the most stable jobs in the kingdom. Well that was what the merchant Barno Ramirez had said. Barno was a renowned trader who helped Minty's family advertise and sell their products to a wider range of people. A nice man with a heart of gold who would never hurt a fly. Most of the times, he was in several parts and different cities of the kingdom, selling his merchandise. Some who didn't see being a merchant as a real job would call him an aimless wander but he was like a second father to Araminta.
The young woman arrived at one bakery. Then another. And then 5 more. All of them rejected her, they already had more than enough workers. Walking in the town's streets, Araminta noticed the sun setting. She wasn't hired anywhere and didn't have a place to stay. Then, one place came to mind as she saw the golden skies: Calendula inn. A clean and cozy building that had its employees stay in a separate dorm. In other words, a perfect option. Determined once again, the lass ran towards the inn, sure of herself. She could cook, it wouldn't be too bad to work in a place such as this.
At this time, the inn was almost completely full with dozens of tired men and women, here for maybe one too many cups of ale or some warm, consistent soup as well as a hard piece of bread. Which was better than what most bakeries did. Sometimes their products would be hard as stones, which explained why they were only eaten with soup. Araminta sat at one of the only free tables and asked a waitress to come.
"Good evening! It's Birdie, your waitress for the night! Are you ready to order?" enthusiastically asked a woman around Minty's age.
"Actually, I was wondering if you were in need of workers right now. Specifically cooks" replied the young adult.
"Oh goodness, I'll fetch the owner for you. Did you want to order anything?"
Araminta smiled and shook her head before looking around to see how many workers there were. Not much! She might have a chance to get hired.
As Birdie was coming back with a muscular and tall old man, the girl waiting at the table straightened her posture, willing to do a good first impression. The man opened his mouth
"So you are the one who wants to work here, I see. This place isn't for the weak, you have to work day and night, abiding to almost every request of customers. You must keep a positive tone and attitude, no matter who they are and what they've done. When I was your age, I was a weak minded individual which caused me to..."
The man's monologue was quite emotional and frankly long.
"So, do you think you have what it takes, lassie?" asked the owner
Araminta nodded.
"Good, you'll stay in the dorms today and prepare for a qualification test in the next week. You'll always be under examination and after that we'll see if you're hired or not. I'm Stetson Sayan. Don't need your name until you work for me."
Minty stood up and shook his hand.
"An honor to meet you, sir!"
Stetson gave a few instructions to Birdie before leaving.
"The boss is straightforward, but don't worry. He treats us well" said Birdie, "I get off soon, I'll show you to the dorm in a few hours. If you want to order call me or someone else!"
The energetic girl left for another table, taking the same tone again and again, no matter who she was talking to. "This must be what the owner expects from everyone" thought Araminta.
Hurriedly walking around with ease, carrying heavy trays and overall having a positive energy to them, the waiters seemed to be appreciated by the customers. Most of them left with smiles on their faces or bought a room for the night. Some were ungrateful or tried to leave without paying, but other kind folks would then pay instead, feeling pity for the hardworking youngsters.
After about two hours, Birdie came back and took off her apron, sign that her shift was over.
"Follow me, I'll show you to the room we'll share. We also have another roommate, I'll introduce you" instructed the girl
The two women went outside to a path way outside the inn. The trail led to two smaller cottage like buildings. The first one with it's sky blue shutters and vegetable garden offered a welcoming atmosphere where one could instantly feel at home, while the second one with a red tiled roof only grew apples. Birdie and Araminta entered the first one. In its living room, three girls were sitting by the fire place, happily chatting.
"Everyone, I'm back with a newbie" announced Birdie
All turned to look at Araminta.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Hermine, Birdie's sister" a girl similar to the first waitress started introduced herself.
"And yes, Birdie and I are twin sisters"
The novice introduced herself as well before the kind twins showed her to the room they'd be sharing. It had three small beds, a wool carpet and a window. To think there'd be not one but three beds in a room... The owner sure was generous indeed.
"Is this really our room?"
"Of course" replied Hermine, "It's getting late, we should get some sleep. I'll let you borrow my robe, Araminta"
"Thank you so much!"
The three girls went to bed, each of them drifting into sleep.
At 4am straight, Birdie woke up Araminta...and quite roughly. She opened the window, threw the newbie's blanket out of it and shook her awake.
"Rise and shine, rookie!" said the waitress
Gasp
Araminta instantly woke up, surprised by how aggressive the previously positive and delicate girl had waken her. "That loud voice could've awoken the dead" thought she.
While she was washing her face and brushing her short, swingy hair, the newcomer couldn't help but wonder if the owner was actually a noble. An average person would never be able to possess three buildings and such a large territory surface. The inn was massive and the cottages' sizes were significantly bigger than the houses in town. Just how could a business bloom so abondantly?
Hermine dropped a set of olive green trousers, a wool shirt and a linen apron to Araminta.
"Your rookie uniform" indicated the girl before leaving the room.
In the living room of the cottages, more girls were helping each other tie their service aprons or applying rouge on their lips. Most of them wore skirts like Birdie and Hermine, it seemed only newbies had pants. At 5am, everyone went outside the building to head towards the inn. Everyone seemed to know each other and were all friendly, introducing themselves to Araminta and reassuring her about the owner's criteria for hiring someone. The only reason why there weren't more than around twelve employees was because of rumors surrounding the innkeeper. Some thought he was a cruel and heartless man whose only interest was beer making and mistreating children. Of course it didn't keep them from always coming, since the food prices were fairly cheap.
Finally, everyone arrived to the tavern. The owner, still looking as serious as always instructed the workers to do their daily tasks. Araminta stayed behind, awaiting her directions. After long minutes, the man ordered her to follow him.
The two entered a separate kitchen, deeper in the inn. A door that seemed to lead to a pantry was locked and bags of wheat laid on the ground, lazily put there. Stetson the innkeeper spoke.
"Move those bags to the main kitchen. All of them. On your own."
Minty was flabbergasted. There were at least twenty five bags piled up. It'd take forever to move them one by one! What if she wasn't done in time for the inn's opening? She had until ten in the morning and other tasks would probably be given to her by the the innkeeper.
Seeing how Araminta was hesitating, the owner talked again.
"Don't make such a big deal out of this. The bags are lighter than they look, trust me"
And he indeed was right. The pouches were surprisingly airy when the novice transported them. She could even pile up to three at a time and easily transport them to the main kitchen.
After roughly thirty minutes, all the sacks had been moved to the main kitchen. Stetson came back.
"Next you'll have to cut the turnips for today's soup. We need them diced. Do the same for onions, parsnips, carrots and leeks. You'll find those in the kitchen's pantry. If you need anything, ask Birdie."
Before Minty could say anything, the taverner hurriedly left. She went to find Birdie right away, asking the waitress for the knives' emplacement. The dynamic young woman made a tour of the kitchen while at it so that the newbie wouldn't be too lost.
"Do two sacks of each" specified Birdie.
Cutting was one of Araminta's specialities. Her grandmother had insisted that she start at the age of five. She had her practice everyday, honing her skills to a maximum.
Confident, Minty cut the top and bottom of the turnips, peeled them, sliced them and diced them into thick cubes. She did the same with the parsnips. For the carrots, they were first julienne cut and then sliced into cubes. Everything was diced except for the leeks which were sliced. Each vegetable was cleanly cut, perfect for soup.
After a few hours, the already hired chefs came in to prepare the soup. This time, the task was to study how the inn's most infamous meal was done. The cooks marveled at how perfectly the vegetables were cut. They poured them in a large, salt-water filled cauldron and left the mix to simmer. Araminta was in charge of stirring the soup every fifteen minutes to avoid the unfortunate occurrence of vegetables sinking and burning at the bottom of the pot.
The owner would sometimes take a peek in the kitchen to see how the new recruit managed the task. He gave a few advices about the ways of stirring a cauldron and how to control the heat accordingly to prevent vegetables from cooking and softening too fast. His instructions were clear, detailed and fast. Yet, he was so passionate about cooking techniques, his eyes shining, his face finally softening. One would instantly see how much Stetson enjoyed culinary arts.
"I can see your cuts are very polished" noticed the innkeeper
"My grandmother has been teaching me ever since I was a child" replied Minty
At that moment, another feeling flashed in Sayan's eyes. Something that looked like sadness or nostalgia. He quickly reverted back to his motion less face before encouraging the new recruit to continue working well during the opening hours. He then left as quickly as he had appeared.
Wondering what the chef had remembered, Araminta hadn't noticed Hermine entering the kitchen.
"The first customers will arrive in about ten minutes. Get bowls ready, you'll need to pour the soup for the waiters to take. Don't forget to add pieces of bread, they are in the left cupboard"
Araminta nodded, doing as the twin waitress had told her.
Not long after, customer swarmed the place like their lives depended on it. They impatiently sat at tables, instantly calling over waiters.
Minty's time to work had come...